BURBANK, California — When a community rises up against the specter of a behemoth retailer in its midst, that store tends to be a purveyor of cheap toys, discount hardware, or 30-roll bundles of toilet paper, not Chilean sea bass, endive and fresh-baked scones.

But an unusual neighborhood just north of central Los Angeles is waging an equally uncommon battle against Whole Foods, the upscale grocery chain based in Texas.

The complaint is not against the company's labor practices, its threat to small businesses, or the products it sells. In fact, residents here say they love Whole Foods. It is just that they are worried about their horses.

The community, known locally as the Rancho, is a smattering of horse properties just north of Griffith Park, in a historically working-class area of Burbank that has been gentrifying.

Behind these far-from-sprawling ranch homes — the average is about 1,200 square feet, or about 100 square meters — are horses in tiny stables whose owners are wont to saunter on horseback through the residential streets and onto the Griffith Park trails each day.

Because it is adjacent to the park, a large equestrian center and several movie studios — which used to board horses back in the halcyon days of the western movie — the Rancho is one of the few places in the heavily urbanized Los Angeles area zoned for horses, which dozens of homeowners in the area board and ride. Along the quiet suburban blocks, it is not uncommon to see a hitching post in a front lawn, or a rider trotting through the drive-through lane at the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.

"This is probably the most unique area in all Los Angeles," said Roman Gora, who lives in a small ranch house. His wife's horse, Indie, lives in a stall behind them.

This spring, developers proposed building a Whole Foods store on Main Street, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, on a 177,000-square-foot lot that houses a television caption company. The proposal sparked the ire of some Rancho residents, who anticipated a surge in traffic that would, among other things, spook their beloved horses.

"We don't think this is safe for the community," Gora said.

The developer, Davies Properties, and Whole Foods, aware of community concerns, offered to expand the street, set the store back from it, and add a horse and bike lane.

"We know the neighborhood this is proposed to go into is a very sensitive neighborhood," said an adviser to Davies, Michael Hastings.

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But it was not enough to appease the opposition, whose members peppered the area with leaflets warning that residents could lose their horse properties, that trucks would be barreling through the neighborhood at all hours, and that the increase in cars would threaten schoolchildren crossing local streets.

In a move that stunned both the developer and those Burbank residents longing for an outpost of organic foods, the city's Planning Board, ignoring the recommendation of its staff that it accept the Whole Foods proposal, turned down the plan in October.

Undaunted, Davies Properties is taking its case to City Hall, where the City Council will give the final word on the project in January.

"Are we glad we are being considered for a Whole Foods? Absolutely," said Todd Campbell, the mayor of Burbank, a post that rotates among council members. "It is a premium store that reflects that Burbank is on the rise in terms of economic vitality."

But Campbell would not say if he would cast his vote in the interest of horses or horseradish.

"We're very protective of our community," he said. "We are a suburb with a hometown feel determined not to become another L.A. city."

Whole Foods executives dismiss the fight as one between the developer and the neighborhood, and said they would not scale down the proposed size of their store. "We're not in a battle with anyone," said Michael Besancon, the president of the company's Southern Pacific region.

The store has its supporters, some of whom said they failed to speak up previously because they never imagined it was in danger. "I went to the planning board meeting," said Brian McGovern, a resident and horse property owner. "I thought, 'How is Whole Foods going to put my children in danger?'"

Citing new speed bumps and traffic lanes as a boon to the area, McGovern said he was tired of driving to North Hollywood for his Whole Foods fix and worried what could come to the property instead.

"They are doing things that I don't think any commercial property would do," he said. "We have a golden goose, and we are cutting its head off."